SAN DIEGO -- The attorney for the woman who was with former San Diego Chargers linebacker Steve Foley when Foley was shot by an off-duty police officer last year told a jury Thursday that the officer was "overzealous and ill-trained" and that his client was nothing more than a scapegoat.

Testimony got under way in the trial of Lisa Maree Gaut, 26.

Prosecutors have charged Gaut with felony assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer and drunken driving. Attorneys for the prosecution say she tried to run down off-duty Coronado police Officer Aaron Mansker during a confrontation in which Mansker shot Foley three times.


Gaut, who has pleaded not guilty and is free on bail, faces up to five years in prison if convicted. Her attorney has said Gaut did not know Mansker was a police officer as he followed them on darkened roads and allegedly pointed a gun at them.

Gaut was the passenger in Foley's car in the early morning hours of Sept. 3, when Mansker spotted the car. Mansker has said he suspected Foley might be driving drunk.

In court Thursday, the woman, dressed in a gray pinstriped pantsuit and with her hair slicked back into a low ponytail, watched intently as both attorneys addressed the jury.

It is unlikely that Foley will testify in Gaut's case, according to the attorney representing Foley in a civil suit the player brought against the officer and the city of Coronado. Jordan Cohen said that Foley is not in town -- he splits his time between San Diego and Houston -- and has not been presented with a subpoena.

If he is called to testify, Cohen said, Foley will probably invoke his fifth amendment right not to take the stand for the purposes of avoiding possible self-incrimination. Foley faces misdemeanor drunken-driving charges in the incident. Foley has pleaded not guilty and his trial is set for May 7. Foley had a blood alcohol content of 0.16 percent, twice the legal limit to drive in California.

According to court records, on the night in question, Mansker -- who was in street clothes, driving his own car and who never showed Foley a badge -- tried to get Foley to pull over as Foley drove to his Poway home with Gaut in the car. Mansker followed, and a confrontation ensued on Foley's quiet cul de sac. Gaut is accused of driving Foley's car at Mansker during that confrontation, in which Mansker allegedly shot Foley three times.

Prosecutor Jim Koerber told the jury the evidence will include crime scene reconstruction.

"A lengthy investigation occurred, as you would expect in a situation like this," Koerber said.

On Thursday, near the end of his opening statement, even though she was legally drunk when she got behind the wheel -- her blood alcohol level was at 0.15 percent -- she had "good reason to drive that vehicle, to get her friend to safety."

The client is a scapegoat in the case.

He also called Mansker an "overzealous and ill-trained policeman out of his jurisdiction, out of uniform, who did not identify himself." Mansker has previously testified that while he did not flash his badge that evening, he repeatedly told Foley he was a police officer.


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